Sh… Butterflygurl, nobody was supposed to know about that… Oh well. I still have Suffer at my house, ya know. He's the most adorable little snakie. I suppose I have to give him back? *sniff*
Hola to Maya! I believe this is the first time you've reviewed? Please come back and review again! :P
Cookie sheet? That sounds good! *materializes Kia's infamous cookie sheet* Oh Karasu… where are you? *hides cookie sheet behind back*
Karasu: Yes? What do you want this time?
DAY: I have a present for you.
Karasu: o_O A present? For me?
DAY: Yep! ^_^ Close your eyes and hold out your hands.
Karasu: Fine. -_-
DAY: *whaps with cookie sheet*
Karasu: x_x I'll get you back for that.
Well, now that I have a cookie sheet, that means that I can bake some now! I'll get them ready while you guys read the chapter, and whoever reviews can have a cookie! ^_^
Chapter 4It was late evening when Sayuri had finally reached her destination. She stepped inside the doorway and closed the door silently, hoping that no one would notice her entering. However, her hope was in vain, because as soon as she turned around to face the inside of the building, she was greeted with an angry face. The teenager that faced her was shorter than Sayuri, with chocolate brown hair cut below her ears and deep brown eyes. The shorter girl's hand shot out, and Sayuri stumbled back, caught off-guard by the force of the blow, and angry red mark coming up quickly on her cheek.
"Where the hell have you been?" The girl's voice was low and angry, outraged.
"Thanks for the gracious welcome, Asashi," Sayuri returned sarcastically. The two teens stared at each other for a moment, then Sayuri found herself caught up in a tight embrace.
"You worried the shit out of all of us, you know? Do you know how hard it is to tell kids like Mari and Yuushi where you are all the time?"
Sayuri felt a twinge of guilt thinking about Mari, the sweet little six year old with white-blonde hair and the most adorable smile in the world, and Yuushi, tall for a twelve year old with jet black hair contrasting with icy blue eyes. She and Asashi were the closest those two, and two other young children, had to a mother. Mari was constantly worried if Sayuri would leave her, like her birth mother, and Yuushi had the unrelenting curiosity of a typical twelve year old boy, not worried if she would come back, but needing to know where she was, and why. Once Sayuri had told him that there was a man she needed to see, and Yuushi had immediately responded by frowning and saying that if that man ever hurt her, that he would freeze him to death. Indeed, Yuushi held great promise as a fighter, not only with his intelligence, mature for one his age, but for his promise working with ice. One of his parents must have been an Ice Demon.
Before Sayuri could respond, something hit her full in the stomach with the force of a small missile. She looked down to see the white-blonde head of Mari. She smiled for the first time since Karasu had summoned her five days before, and swept the small girl into her arms. There were tears in the girl's light green eyes.
"I thought you weren't coming back this time…" Mari burst into tears and buried her head in the teenager's shoulders. Sayuri tried to console her, shushing her and telling at she would never leave her.
"She always does that when you go. I swear…" a boy's cynical voice trailed off suddenly. Sayuri turned her head to see Yuushi standing against the doorway. "That man…" he said slowly. "He didn't do that to you, did he?"
Sayuri rocked Mari gently as she looked questioningly at Yuushi. "Did what?"
"Your coat, dumbass. What did he do to you?" He reared up in anger, his pale skin almost glowing with a sort of zeal that he only had when it came to studies and protecting his surrogate family.
"Oh, this?" she asked questioningly, gesturing as best as she could to the rips in her trench coat. "He didn't do that. Don't worry. I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, you know." Yuushi's eyes narrowed. It was obvious that he wasn't totally convinced with her answer. It was then that the four heard the sound of crying from the adjoining room.
"Oh, it's just Paolo. He must be hungry again. I'll be right back after I've settled him down," Asashi said quickly before departing the room, leaving Sayuri with a still whimpering Mari and scrutinizing looks from Yuushi.
Mari looked up from her shoulder, wiped an arm across her face, and sniffed. "When's Kairi gonna come back? She promised she'd play with me again. Where is she, and when is she gonna be back?"
A look of intense sorrow passed over Sayuri's face, as she opened her mouth to answer, but Mari found herself answered by a hiss from Yuushi. "How many times have I told you not to mention Kairi in front of Sayuri?"
Tears welled again in the six-year-old's eyes, but before she could start crying again, Sayuri hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear. "Don't worry. Kairi'll be back soon. I know she will." She shot a sharp look at Yuushi before putting Mari gently back on the ground. "You'd better get to sleep. I promise I'll play with you tomorrow. Go on now." She watched as Mari yawned, then walked sleepily into the room where Asashi had gone into to tend baby Paolo. As soon as the girl was out of earshot she rounded on Yuushi.
"Why the hell did you tell her that? She has just as much right as you to ask questions, probably more, what with your meddling all the time!"
Yuushi just stared at her with his icy eyes. "Do I ever mention your sister in front of you? I know how much pain it causes you. You two are the only blood relatives here out of the seven of us, and I know exactly where she is, and why. Why don't you just kill the bastard and get her back?"
Sayuri sank slowly to the ground. "It's not that easy, Yuushi."
"Why do you all treat me like a child? I know what's going on! I want to help! You think I don't want to bust up that bastard and get Kairi the hell out of there? You're crazy if that's what you think! You're strong, and Asahi's strong, and I'm getting stronger! If we all take this guy together, we'll be able to punch his damn lights out before he knows what hit him!" Yuushi burst out. "Then we can take Kairi back and live like we were before," he finished quietly.
Sayuri sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Why didn't they just do that? But she knew the answer before she finished asking herself the question. Karasu was far too powerful, and she didn't want anyone to get hurt. An idea was already circling in her head to get out of this predicament without causing any innocent blood to be shed. "Go to bed, Yuushi, and I might tell you in the morning."
Yuushi let out a sigh of indignation, but turned on his heel and walked back to the room that the four youngest children shared. Whatever the slim chances of Sayuri telling him, it was better than an outright 'no.' So he decided to quit while he was ahead.
He didn't see the tears falling down the teenager's cheeks.
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"Asashi, I need your help." Sayuri rolled over on her futon and looked in Asashi's general direction.
"I assumed as much from that look on your face when you came in, and then how you talked to Yuushi. He ain't a kid any longer. He may only be twelve, but he's a hell of a lot more mature than we were when we were twelve. Remember the time I dropped the water balloon full of flour, glue and feathers on Kairi's head? But anyway, what do you need help with? What's this Karasu guy done this time?" Asashi replied, trying to keep the conversation light-hearted, but knowing before she even started that she was going to fail.
"Remember those bracelets I was wearing?"
"Oh, I wondered where those came from. Pretty too. I'll bet we could pawn them off for a large share of pretty pennies, eh?"
"They're powerful, Asashi. Remember what I told you about him blowing things up, right? If he had these bracelets, he could blow up probably the whole world with no effort."
"And that's not good, right?" Asashi said jokingly.
Sayuri scowled in the darkness. "No, that's definitely not good. But what I need you to do is hide them. And you can't tell me where they are. Don't tell anyone where they are. Especially not me. No matter what I say or what I do, don't tell me anything."
"Sayuri, that's pretty suspicious, you know…" Asashi didn't sound so convinced.
Sayuri made her way through the dark and knelt next to Asashi. "Please Asashi. I…I can't do this by myself…" Moonlight shone in through the window and glinted off wet streaks trailing down the older girl's cheeks.
"Fine, fine. But this is gonna get us into big shit. I can tell already."
"I hate to burst your bubble, Asashi, but we're already in big shit."
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It was the next day, when Asashi had gone to hide the bracelets that Sayuri got the message from Karasu that she knew was coming. She was summoned to meet him at their usual place, in two hours.
Don't be late.
Sayuri had almost retorted that he was the late one last time, but decided against it.
"Yuushi, you need to look after the kids now, okay. Don't pull anything smart. I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself, so don't mess it up, okay?" She ruffled his dark hair and was rewarded with a rare smile.
"Just don't let that guy touch you, okay?" Yuushi sounded concerned.
Sayuri winked and gave him a thumbs-up on the way out.
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Asashi walked back into their small house, wanting to just sit down with Sayuri over a cup on tea and talk about the whole problem. Sure, she had heard bits and pieces, but not really enough to piece together what exactly was going on. She was rather surprised when Sayuri wasn't home.
"Hey, Yuushi, where's Sayuri?" she asked the boy.
He poked his head out from around the corner of the small bedroom where he was playing with Mari while rocking Paolo gently. "She went to meet that guy again." He saw a light of disbelief and anger cross her face. "Don't even try it. You know how many times I tried to track her to where that creep was meeting her? There's no way you'll find her."
Asashi swore loudly and violently, realizing that Yuushi was right, and there wasn't anything she could do except keep the secret of where she hid the bracelets.
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"Hey, midget! Where the hell are you?" Yusuke and Kuwabara had been looking for Hiei for the last day and a half. Apparently, Koenma didn't think it necessary to contact him first, even knowing about the demon's habit of wandering erratically during his off time. Currently, they were wandering around of the fire demon's favorite forests to train in. Still having no luck, Yusuke had a rare stroke of genius.
"You know what, Kuwabara, I'll bet Kurama would know where he is! We have to go get him anyway, so why not go and see him now."
"Good plan, Urameshi! I'm glad I thought of it!" Kuwabara replied.
Yusuke buried his face in his hands as Kuwabara led the way to Kurama's house, head raised high in triumph. He remembered well enough what happened last time Kuwabara had led an expedition like this one…but as much as he tried, he couldn't block it out of his memory.
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There was a tall figure swathed in black leaning against the wall of the warehouse when Sayuri got there. He turned his head to look at her, and she was pierced to the core by his violet eyes.
"It's about time you got here."
Sayuri backed against a wall as he came closer. She held her silence as he gently raised his hand to caress her face. She closed her eyes against his touch, fingers cold as ice. "I was beginning to worry you wouldn't come," he whispered seductively.
Sayuri swallowed and tried to ignore her racing heart. "Look at me," he whispered. It took all of Sayuri's will to squeeze her eyes shut even harder. He chuckled softly. "Come, come. Don't be like that. Look at me." He leaned closer, and Sayuri could feel his breath warm against her face. Her eyes fluttered open against her will, and at once she stood transfixed by his amethyst gaze.
They stood like that for a moment, her back against a wall, their bodies close, his fingers resting against her cheek, faces close enough for her to feel his exhalations, staring deep into each other's eyes. Despite all the hate and rage she felt towards the man, it took all she had not to give into him. He had definitely mastered the art of seduction.
It was he who broke the silence. "You look just like her," he breathed. Sayuri could hardly hear what he said, and she couldn't help but ask the next inevitable question.
"Like who?"
Karasu turned away, the spell broken. "Never mind." Unexpectedly, he whirled back around to face her. "Where are they?"
Sayuri's answer was curt. "I don't know."
His handsome features contorted with rage. "Don't lie to me! Where are they?"
Sayuri didn't waver. "I don't you the truth. I don't know."
In two long strides, he was back, closer than he was before, but Sayuri also found his hand twisted in her shirt and coat, brute strength lifting her bodily off the ground. Her feet dangled a good four inches off the ground. "Tell me." His voice was scarce more than a feral growl.
She had a hard time hiding the terror from her voice. Even so, she couldn't hide it all from the perceptive man. "I honestly don't know!"
He scanned her face, looking for one of the signs of a lie, but couldn't find one. The thought entered his mind that she might be telling the truth. But if she didn't know where the bracelets were, then someone close to her must. Surely she had figured out what the bracelets were, and what he intended to do with them. "Then who does?" The teenager kept a stoic silence. "You realize I'm running out of options. I'm going to get this information from you, one way or another. I don't want to resort to unpleasant means…" His voice trailed off menacingly. Still she stayed silent. "Fine, if that's the way you want it…"
Sayuri screamed in pain as a probe attacked her mind, hard and unrelenting, bearing the unmistakable print of Karasu. It had only one point: to figure out who had the bracelets. At the moment, he was so angry that he didn't care if he destroyed her mind, shattered her sanity. She frantically put up the mental blocks she had been working so hard on, but Karasu's malevolent probe crashed through them in an instant, tearing apart her consciousness one step at a time. She couldn't give in, wouldn't. But then Karasu fed her an image of her sister how she was right now. Sayuri saw her, the fifteen-year-old girl sitting in darkness, her long blonde hair dirty and matted, her intensely violet eyes uncharacteristically dull. That was when she faltered. Not just because of the torment her sister was in – Kairi was strong, she could endure that – but the fact that she hadn't realized until now how much Kairi's eyes looked like Karasu's. She only faltered for a matter of seconds, but it was those seconds Karasu needed. While she had let her guard down, he had gathered what he needed, images of the people closest to the teen: Asashi, Yuushi, Mari, Paolo, and Ishta. The last three were too young to know anything relevant, but the others…
At last, Karasu withdrew his probe. Sayuri sagged in his grasp, exhausted by the ordeal of trying to fight him off. He took this opportunity to mutter the spell to take control of her mind. He would rather have her get the bracelets without him having to reveal himself to the world. He had hidden this long, he didn't intend on ruining it now…
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Asashi opened the door when she heard someone knock. A very disheveled looking Sayuri was standing in the doorway. "Why did you go off again? You were worrying the hell out of all of us!" When Sayuri didn't respond, Asashi raised her hand to slap her, much as she had the day before. However, her hand never made contact with the taller girl's face. Sayuri had grabber her wrist and was holding her hand in an iron grip, not even an inch away from her face.
It was then that Asashi saw her eyes. They weren't their normal deep blue. They looked distant, and somehow clouded over. Asashi realized for the first time why Sayuri told her to keep the location of the bracelets secret. And she knew something was terribly wrong.
Asashi looked around desperately for Yuushi. He saw his face poke around the corner of the door into the bedroom. When their eyes met, Yuushi saw the desperate message to hide, and ran back into the bedroom.
"Where are they?" Sayuri's voice didn't sound like her own.
"Where are what?"
"Don't lie to me, insignificant fool! You know where they are. Tell me."
Asashi wasn't fazed. "Never." Her reply was soft, yet intense, hatred bubbling over the entire word. She spat in Sayuri's face.
Left hand still holding Asashi's right, spit dripping slowly down her face, Sayuri reached into her trench coat with her right hand, and pulled out one of her sai. In a lightening-fast movement, the pommel of the sai crashed against the side of Asashi's skull, deliberately placed where the wound wouldn't knock her unconscious. Asashi sagged in Sayuri's grip until she flung the girl aside. She then crossed into the bedroom where the smaller children were.
Mari looked up from her game when she saw Sayuri. She jumped up and ran to hug her. But before she could so much as lay a hand on her, Sayuri's twin sai flashed. Twin red streaks started to soak the chest of the six-year-old. Paolo and Ishta started crying. Their crying was soon silenced as violently as Mari's laughter.
Sayuri returned to Asashi. She picked up the smaller girl by the front of her shirt and drug her into the bedroom.
"Where are they? They suffered this fate because of you. If you don't tell me, many more will suffer in this manner. And if you even think to lie… You know that I hold Kairi's life in my hands. She will die a much slower, more painful death than any of these here. And she will only be the first. Will you reconsider? Will you tell me?"
Sayuri looked at Asashi, waiting for her to respond. Asashi wiped the trail of blood of the side of her face, and looked defiantly into deep sapphire eyes. "No."
Sayuri let out a scream of rage, and attacked Asashi, letting her rage get the better of her. When she was finished, her sai were red instead of silver.
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Sayuri felt the grip of Karasu's mind leave her, and as she looked around, her mind reeled. The room spun, and she fell to her knees as she emptied the contents of her stomach.
"What have I done? Oh Gods, what have I done?" she murmured over and over, repeating the words in a useless cycle that did nothing to help her.
She forced herself to look up, to survey the enormity of what she had done. Mari's chest had been sliced open by twin sai. Her twin sai. Paolo and Ishta's throats had been slit. Asashi had numerous wounds all over her body.
Sayuri saw Asashi's chest rise ever so slightly. She was still breathing. She was still alive. She might be able to save her. She knew that her healing skills were nothing near what was needed to repair the damage before her friend died. There was only one person she knew who had the necessary skills. The only one who would listen to what she had done, and who would be able to understand. The only one who had ever shown her kindness before…
Before she thought about it another second, she gently picked up her friend's body and walked out the door. Once outside, she took flight, seeking the way to his house faster than she had ever flown before.
Please my friend… Please be able to help… Help her… Help me…Author's Note: Evil Karasu is at it again! What do you think? Is Asashi going to die? Does that mean the secret of the bracelet dies with her? And what about Sayuri? Is she going to have an emotional breakdown after killing her surrogate family? When is Karasu going to come out in the open? Will he ever find those bracelets? Will he blow up the world? Why would he want to blow up the world? What was with him trying to seduce Sayuri? Will these questions never end? All these answers and more in the next installment of Anything Goes!
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